The Way I Was
by bakercomics
Summary: Gary and Ash enter college, unsure what to expect. Although both are doing well, socially Gary has learned of his mistakes in his arrogance. Well Gary finally change? Shippings coming soon, T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**The Way I Was**

 **Chapter One**

"Alright kids, off the bus!" The driver yelled, which was the first thing I heard after slowly waking up. Next thing I knew, the bus became loud and cramp as everyone but me and my stupid rival and now roommate's row. Ash had slept against the frozen window the entire trip, and as when he woke his face was half red. "Really, Gary? You decided to fall asleep now?" the idiot asked. "Can it, Ashy-boy, you kept the two back rows awake with your snoring. I'll move once everybody else gets out of the way," I responded, cranky and aggravated. Everyone finally moved up enough for me to get out of the row and stand in line, with Ash behind me. As we emerged from the freezing cold bus, we saw a giant black gate with a Poke ball on the front, with a bright blue arch holding it. The hinges creaked as it opened, and a hyper-looking man in a suit came over and announced, "Welcome to Celadon Greens University, the one of the most advanced of Pokemon colleges, given the many subjects to study! The majors include research, battling, coordination, arts, and medical!"

"You should have your dorm papers with you, to know who your roommate is! Some have already signed up together, and others have been randomly selected, the next group from Pewter and Cerulean City from Kanto, along with Hoenn and Sinnoh students with scholarships, should be here next week. will be here at approximately 10 AM tomorrow." Ash lit up as he heard that, as Dawn, Drew, and Misty had been on those lists. I was there for that, and Drew explained how his girl May had become a sad sack because they were in different regions for college. Anyway, I elbowed Ash and asked, "Your girlfriend coming?" He punched me in the arm and said, "Shut up, Misty and I aren't dating, so stop being dumb and listen to him." He kept blabbing about classes starting the day after tomorrow, as the rest of the students had been coming the next day. Dumb how we had to arrive at 4 AM. Ash raised his hand because he asked if we had questions. "When will the rest of our luggage or any of our Pokemon arrive?" He asked. That got people talking, and they grew angry. "Nice one, Ash," I smirked. "What?" He asked. "Nothing," I responded, laughing. I was about to bet him five bucks Pikachu freaked out and put under sleeping pills or something since he hated Poke balls, but I was interrupted by the man's answer. "They'll be here in about and hour and a half. They'll be here for pickup by the time the meet-and-greet begins, so we have an area for that," he answered. _If I had my Pokemon, I'd ditch this place._ "Well, I'm sure you want to sleep at least a couple hours, so get to your rooms," He said, as he then disappeared.

I sighed as I walked off with the rest of the crowd. Ash followed. I followed the stupid numbers and after 15 minutes of walking, we found our room. I didn't care what it looked like right then, so I went ahead and passed out on the closer of the two beds. Ash was sensible enough to actually position himself, because I had slept upside down on the bed.

I had woken up to loud beeping noise, presumably a stupid alarm they set for me. I checked it, and it said 9:00 AM. I figured I got enough sleep and sat up. The room was a light gray color, with two desks on opposite sides of the room. The beds were also that way, and there was a couch, a TV, and a minifridge in the center and front. The "meet and greet" was at 11 o'clock, so I decided to leave and check out the place. I opened the door, and left.

While I checked out the place, I saw many people I remember a while back. I saw the kid who beat Ash in the Indigo League, Ritchie, but he ran off before I could say anything, I was gonna say something arrogant, so it didn't matter. There were the labs and everything near a big statue of Gramps. I spit on the statue and walked away. I smirked, and I guess a girl saw me. She gave me a disgusted look. I just smiled at her and kept walking. I looked at the battle arena, where some kids were sitting at, talking. There was a snack bar where people were also sitting at. I walked to the art/coordinator building. The windows were blocked and the doors were locked I saw a bunch of people near the bus station, I guessed the other buses were to arrive soon.

I sat and waited for a quarter of an hour, then saw a bus, with a neon sign saying "Cerulean and Pewter students" on the side of it. Suddenly, a flood of students ran out of the bus, some falling in the process. I laughed at them, specifically a redhead I once knew. I walked up to her, still smirking. She was getting up, so I gave her a hand and helped her. I laughed a little and said, "You took quite a fall there, Red." "Yeah, nice seeing you too, Gary Oak," Misty replied. Her luggage was on the ground too, in which she grabbed. "Sounds like you haven't seen your boyfriend in a while, why don't you pay him a visit?" I asked. "As much as I want to see Ash, he isn't my boyfriend, and you'd be bothering us anyway," she replied. "I'm not THAT big of an idiot," I retorted. Misty had walked off before I finished saying that. I had about and hour until everyone meets at the middle of the dorm complex. It's indoors, so I thought of it being very cramped. I decided to go back to the dorm room to relax and see what Ash was up to. I guess we were a little friendlier to each other, but we were still rivals to the bone. I walked down the steps to the main dorms, then opened the door to a sitting Ash. "Hey Gary, what's going on?" Ash asked.

"Just explored the campus. Misty is here. I don't doubt your coordinator friends will be here soon," I explained, as I sat on the orange couch. "What are you watching there, Ash?" I asked. "This show about legendary Pokemon battles from years ago," Ash replied. "Are you ready for college? I asked. "Kind of. I'm not sure," Ash responded, "Well, we're already here so, I guess." "Whatever, I don't really know if I'm ready," I added. We soon got a knock on the door, and I got up and answered it. It was Drew with the same flipped up green hair, same baggy clothes. "Oh, hey Gary. Is Ash here?" He asked. "Step inside," I replied. "Hey Drew, I see you arrived. How are you?" Ash asked. "Pretty good," Drew replied. "Has the blue-haired girl arrived yet?" I asked. "Yeah, Dawn's bus was behind ours," Drew said. "Ugh, another annoying person to argue with," I complained.

"Well, the meet-and-greet should be starting in a couple minutes, wanna head down?" Ash asked. "Sure," Drew said. "I guess," I decided. We left the room and headed down the hall toward the main room. People started to show up fast. I tried to talk to people, but I guess they knew who I was or went to talk to others. Ash and Drew were at least a little cool with me, but I still felt uneasy. I finally felt bad for something. I shrugged it off though and went to go get some punch. Ash followed, and got my attention. "Hey, why aren't you talking to your old friends? There are a ton of them here," He asked. I sighed, and turned. "I guess they realize I'm still an arrogant jerk, or the real jerks think they are better than me because they are battlers. I mean, I have my moments," I answered. "Well, you're welcome over here with us if you want," Ash pointed out. "I'm okay. But if I do save a spot for me wherever you are," I said back. He walked on back to talk to Drew, as they waited for Misty and Dawn to show up. I stood against the wall, and drank about three glasses of punch before I gave in and walked over to Ash's group.

As I showed up, they stopped talking and looking at me. "Hey, it's Gary," Ash said, with a smile. Misty gave me a death stare as Dawn rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Misty, just because I laughed a tiny bit when you fell doesn't mean you need to give me a look. I haven't even said anything," I explained. "So what? You just come back to ridicule Ash and us," Misty retorted at me. "What? No! He hasn't done anything to me that really has bothered me for months. We may poke fun at each other but that's really it," Ash intervened. "Thank you, Ash," I said. "Anyway, what are you here for?" Misty asked, in an irritated tone. "I invited him," Ash answered. They turned to Ash. "I'm fine with him," Drew said. Dawn hadn't said anything. She gave me a nervous look, and then she looked at Misty and said, "He hasn't really done anything to me, just a couple arguments with Ash in Sinnoh." Misty gave in, and asked, "Fine, what were we talking about again?" It was just plain, boring small talk about what each of us are doing in college or wherever everyone else is. Until, the same man from last night, which apparently was the principal, walked to the middle of the crowd to speak.

"Hello, students and staff! Welcome to the Celadon Greens University Annual Meet and Greet! This year is going to be new to older students along with the new students, due to the technological advances on campus. Last year's carnival raised some much money we earned enough to build a virtual battle arena and we put computers in everyone's dorms! We've also planted trees around campus! Anyways, your Pokemon are available for pick up in the healing room, and class schedules have been emailed to you. Have a nice day!" he announced. Ash was already gone. He was desperate to grab Pikachu. I motioned toward the room, but the entire crowd decided to leave, so I waited awkwardly with Ash's group. Ash came back with four other bags, while Pikachu held Ash's.

"Here you guys go," Ash said as he gave us our Pokemon. He tossed me a bag with my name on it, and in it were Blastoise and Electivire, my biggest and strongest. I only brought two because I wanted to catch some in my free time. Drew brought his trusty Roselia and Dawn brought Piplup and Buneary. Misty and Ash went all out and brought ALL six Pokemon, which I am guessing they are battlers. I've decided to go back to that too. While Dawn and Drew are in _coordination and arts_. I thought lowly of those people, because only fighting was competition, not quality of looks. It was kind of dumb. But people are people and you can't change that. "Well, we gotta head back to the dorm for our schedules and computer set up, see you guys later," Ash said, signaling me to follow him. I did so, until we reached the door. "I have to apologize about Misty, it's just she still wants what she used to have with us when we were kids. It was more awkward before you came then after you began to argue," Ash explained. "That's okay, I'm sorry if I interrupted you and your girlfriend catching up," I said, laughing a little. He laughed a bit too. Ash opened the door and sat to relax. I went up to my side of the room where my computer sat. I sat in the desk and turned it on. It wasn't even close to the old and crappy computer I had back at the lab. It was way nicer and way faster than it. It booted up in about 3 seconds, and in bright, bold letters, it said: **SCAN FINGERPRINT**. Suddenly, a flat tray with a screen slid out of the computer, which began to flash a bright blue oval shape. I pushed my thumb against it and the tray sucked back in and the computer said on the screen: **Welcome, Gary Oak**. It then booted the desktop up, which included the internet browser _Pokenet_ , the document writing program, and other programs. I clicked Pokenet and it immediately took me to a set of programs on the internet the school uses, and a search bar. I clicked on the mail icon and on there was my class schedule. There were all the classes I applied for, including Battle Strategy, Battle Logic, Healing, and other minor classes I need to take. Ash had the same major classes, because Gramps had put Ash in my classes due to Ash and I having the same battle skill and recommended lists. What a coincidence. All the other emails were about campus rules and dorm policies. Ash came over and looked at his schedule on my computer, because each dorm room was sent the same email. "So, you and I are in the same classes, huh?" he asked. "Just the majors, not like history or math that we so NEED," I replied angrily.

We did nothing for hours, I started to get bored. "Stupid college has nothing to do. They closed the gates for the rest of the night," I complained. "There's got to be something to do this late," Ash suggested. His Pikachu had been digging through the closet, to find a so-called "hatch" that Ash heard from one of the staff members at the party. "Your friends probably don't want to do anything with me, or at all," I groaned. "No, they're fine," he replied. "Oh, I know! We can head to the arena and hang out, actually catch up on things," Ash suggested. "Nah. Pretty boring, and the place is probably closed," I complained again.

"It's getting late and I didn't get much sleep, so I better call it a night," I said, laying on the bed. "You know Gary? You're not that bad after all," Ash pointed out. "Whatever," I replied. I didn't want to go to this stupid school. I was fine with staying home, fine with being a loser. Not like I had anyone here to talk to, besides Ashy-boy. I liked when we picked fights like the stubborn kids we were. _Well, shoot. Looks like I miss Gramps' lab after all,_ I thought. I soon fell into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Way I Was**

 **Chapter 2**

The alarm went off earlier this morning, as I was still tired and bored as last night. "That didn't help at all," I told myself. I quickly got dressed, got my backpack from the closet and walked out into a cold fall morning. Ash was still in bed by the time I left, so he could me out here. We established this before the night we left to meet out by benches near the snack bar. We had a map beforehand, so we knew where to go. I relaxed and decided to check my backpack for my books and entry cards. I kept doing so until I heard a voice say, "Hi." I turned to my left and it was the blue-haired girl, Dawn. "Hello," I replied. She smiled. "I know we didn't get along so well in Sinnoh, so I guess I better re-introduce myself. I'm Dawn," She said, holding out her hand to me to shake.

I shook her hand and replied, "I'm Gary Oak, a trainer aiming to be the best- I mean great. I'm aiming to be great someday." I gave a weird look or something because that was awkward.

She chuckled. "What? Was that awkward or something?" I asked. She laughed more. "Stop it! You're killing me!" She said, while laughing. I sighed. She stopped. "Oh, don't be mad! I've been way more awkward before. Who am I kidding? I'm a coordinator. Most of the time they were in competitions!" She explained.

"Whatever," I said, becoming extremely bored. "What is up with you?" Dawn asked. "Nothing, just wanting to be out of this stupid school, because everyone here either doesn't want me here or plain hates my guts, and I can do without everything here," I replied. "You've got it all wrong, Gary," Dawn cooed. "What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know anyone else at this school, so I only have you, Ash, and the others. I'm sure Ash wants you here. Drew seems to like you. Misty just needs to adjust to you and lastly, I want you here," She explained, blushing (which I hoped was embarrassment) at the last part. I felt better, but felt uneasy as she blushed at that and thank god Drew walked behind the bench. "Well, crap. I can tell something happened over here," he said. I began to turn red.

"Oh, I don't care, too tired to," he told us, laughing. We sighed in relief. "Hey Drew, we gotta go in ten minutes to Battle Logic, where's Ash?" I asked. "He should be out in a couple minutes, he's a little late because he has to put Pikachu in a Poke ball," He answered, yawning. "And here he is now," Drew pointed out.

"Hey guys," Ash greeted. "Where's Misty?" Dawn asked. "She's been hurrying. I checked in on her, but she was looking for something," Ash responded. Then I heard heavy steps coming this way. "Hi guys!" She said in a happy tone. I'm guessing she hadn't seen me yet so I sat up. Nope. She was fine. _Whatever,_ I thought. "Told you she would get over it," Dawn whispered in my ear. We began to walk away from the benches, "Something's fishy. It couldn't be this fast," I whispered back. "Just accept it for now, though," she said, "I have to leave for my first coordination class, bye!" "See you later," I said. I caught up to Misty and Ash, as Drew and Dawn left. We walked all the way to Battle Logic without saying a word. Ash opened the door for us, and it seemed we were a bit early, because only four out of the other sixteen students were already there. We waited a bit in the back of the room, sitting in random desks. They finally arrived and most took their seats. There was an empty seat up front, and I knew why as a guy wearing a black hoodie with brown hair swept across his head approached me. He was about my size, and he looked threatening, but not in my eyes. The teacher was to enter any minute, and I knew this kid was up to something.

"Hey, that's my seat," He said. "What's it to ya?" I asked, giving an evil smile. "It's my seat, scram," He replied. "I'd rather not," I spoke, with a smirk. He held a fist. "I said scram, kid," He threatened. "I'm _so_ scared. Now leave before you get yourself hurt," I replied. He was about to throw a fist, but the teacher came in. "Ray! Don't you dare punch him! Sit, now!" he yelled. "Bye, bye," I said, quietly. Ash stared at me in shock. "How in the heck did you tell HIM to go away?" He asked. "I don't know him and he's a numbskull," I spat out. "That's Ray West. He's a tough guy, even without Pokemon," he added. "A West kid? Oh, so what? There's nothing to worry about. He's an idiot, and with or without Pokemon," I retorted. "You may regret it, but I guess you're right," Ash responded.

Class began, but it was a breeze to get through. There was a multiple choice test on how to battle, to determine how well you know logic and how well you use your Pokemon. I was in the upper class, along with Ash, Misty, (to my surprise) Ray West, and two others. The other 14 were medium and a couple really needed to catch up. We left the classroom in an "orderly" fashion to get used to behavior on campus. "That was a snooze fest," I complained. "Why was it so easy? Isn't this college?" Ash asked. "I know," Misty added, with a small groan. "Thankfully we have a break after this next class," I said. "Well, we got minor classes, I have to go," Misty pointed out. "Bye!" Ash said, as she walked away. "See ya," I said, after Ash elbowed me to say something. She waved as she began to run off. "Ah! My class is in 5 minutes! Gotta run, Gary! Check on Pikachu if you have time, bye!" Ash yelled, running the other direction. "See you later!" I yelled back. I walked toward the dorm complex, and the lounge was actually quite filled. I questioned it, but it didn't matter. I had to walk a little faster because I had Pokemon History in about 15 minutes.

I opened the door to the dorm, and there Pikachu sat. He was on the couch watching some show starring Pikachus as detective and other stuff. "You okay, Pikachu? Ash told me to check in on you," I asked. "Pika," He said, nodding his head. "Ash will come back and get you for Battle Strategy if he gets the chance," I said. Pikachu seemed happy with the response, and went back to his show. I shut the door to the dorm and Dawn was there. "AH! What are you doing here!?" I asked loudly. "I have a minor class with you, so I came over to go with you," she explained. "That's fine, I guess," I responded, stuttering. We began to walk out of the dorm complex and made our way into the courtyard. I attempted to make conversation with Dawn, without embarrassing myself. "How was your coordination class?" I asked. "It was great! I met some great people and I was toward the top of the class, too. How was yours?" She responded. "Boring, I was at the top too. I hope it's not like this all year," I responded, being cynical and real about it. "Hey. It will all work out in the end. Trust me," Dawn responded. "It's only been a day. Why have you become so nice to me lately?" I asked. "I realized you could be a good person. You seemed left out and everything. You just need to adjust to everything and everybody," Dawn replied.

I guessed she was right and we reached Pokemon History. No one I knew but Dawn was there. It was interesting at first, but again it was a letdown. I sat through an hour of boredom. All i really caught was the beginning of evolution, the first competitions, and my head smashing against the desk. It was okay though. I began to walk back to the dorm after I told Dawn I would see her when Ash got back. I arrived at the dorm and I saw that the door was unlocked. I heard lots of banging noises, and rushed in. I saw Pikachu tied up against the wall, and a hooded man in the room throwing stuff around. I knew it was Ray immediately after seeing him. "Hey, Ray. I was just wondering, is this my dorm, because I don't think you live here," I sarcastically asked. He turned around. "Oh I am going to-" He was interrupted by me kicking him onto the ground. "Get out. Now," I threatened. "Fine, but I'm warning you. I'll be coming for you. That's what you get for pissing off a West," he threatened back. "Oh, I'm _so_ scared," I retorted. I slammed the door on him, and untied Pikachu. He didn't throw much or even break anything but an empty picture frame that came with the room. I threw it away and sat down, waiting for Ash to get back so he could see what Ray did. I wasn't so concerned but I wanted to see his reaction.

Ash came in and saw the mess. "What happened here?" He asked. "Ray got in here with the spare key," I told him. "Did you fight him?" Ash asked, as he sat down next to Pikachu. "I kicked him. He tied up Pikachu and broke a picture frame," I responded. Ash began to look nervous. "Was there a picture in there?" He asked. "No, why?" I asked back. "There was an old and personal picture in there," he answered. "Look for it, then," I advised. He rushed to his dresser. I then heard a knock on the door and heard Drew say, "It's Drew!" I looked at the messy room and grew a little nervous. "Are the girls with you?" I asked. "No," he responded. "Come in!" I yelled. He came in and sat down. "Dude, what happened?" Drew asked. "An idiot named Ray West happened," I responded. "You got on his bad side, didn't you?" Drew asked. "Oh yeah," I answered. "Ash is flipping out over a picture he lost," I said. Drew laughed. "Hey! It's personal!" Ash yelled. "You mean that picture of Misty and you on the beach?" Drew asked. I bursted into laughter. "C'mon Ash, you know that won't ever work out," I pointed out, laughing in between words. "You said that four years ago!" He responded, embarrassed. "I remember Ash and Melody hooked up when we were thirteen," Drew joked, also laughing hysterically. "Oh, that didn't work at all!" I said, still laughing. I heard another knock on the door and stopped laughing. "Who is it?" I asked. "Misty and Dawn!" Misty responded. "Clean the room fast," I whispered. "Give us a minute! We're playing a dumb game!" I said, running to pick up the clothes on the floor. We had finished right when they were done waiting and opened the door. I was standing at the door, about to open it before they did.

"Hi guys, what are we doing here?" Dawn asked. "Nothing really," I responded, before Ash could open his mouth. "So, what are we doing before class starts?" Drew asked. "I'm thinking lunch, I'm starving!" Ash suggested. "I guess we could go to the restaurant down the street," Misty pointed out. "If we can get a table at least," I added. There was a moment of silence until Ash started to walk and opened the door. We saw a ton of kids walking to the restaurant, so we had to run pretty fast. As soon as we hit the restaurant, I noticed only one open table and ran toward. It was a lucky shot considering someone else almost got it. Everyone else sat down as Ash immediately picked up his menu. The waiter soon came to the table. "Would you guys like some drinks?" she asked. "I'll have a cola," I responded. "Water for us please," Dawn said, also pointing at Misty. 'I'll take at water too please," Drew ordered. "I want an orange soda," Ash commanded, in a somewhat rude way. The waiter walked off with our order.

"So, how are your classes so far, guys?" I asked. "It's okay," Drew responded. "They're good if you ask me," Dawn replied. "Pretty boring at first," Ash complained. "I'd have to agree with Ash on this one," Misty claimed. "Are you guys already sick of this school?" I asked. They either shook their heads or said no. "Good, because you'll be here another year or two, depending on grades," I added. The waiter came back with our drinks, and said, "I'll be back to have you guys order."

We eventually ordered, ate until full, and we left for our next classes. "Battle Strategy" was just introducing all our Pokemon. "Healing" was a class we were all in, which was a lot more fun, because it was basically chemistry and we mixed a ton of chemicals for different reactions. It was okay, but freedom felt so sweet after that last class. We headed back to the dorm lobby where there were plenty of students lounging around. Dawn and Drew were talking about coordinating while Misty and Ash watched the giant TV.

I was bored, so I pulled out earbuds and listened to some Brand New (remember that band?) until I heard arguing from Ash and Misty. I didn't know what it was about, but It ended up with Misty stomping away and standing the corner. I smirked and snuck behind an angry Ash. Dawn and Drew caught sight of me and I put my finger over my mouth to make sure they didn't speak. Ash was facing her as she looked away. I know this was a jerk move but I pushed him hard enough for him to stop right in front of the corner, where he stood really close to Misty. I could see Misty blush as they just stood there. Drew laughed quiet enough for only me and Dawn to hear, as I did the same.

They didn't argue any further, nor did they speak. They looked at and away from each other a lot, I smirked every time I saw it. After a while of laying around, it grew late, and Ash decided to call it a night and dragged me back to the dorm. "What the hell dude?!" He yelled, after closing the door. "What?" I asked. "You! You pushed me into her!" Ash answered. "At least I stopped an argument!" I yelled back. He sighed. "It doesn't matter. Whatever, goodnight," He said, jumping into bed, as Pikachu followed. "Hey. I'm sorry. I just-" I was interrupted. "It's fine, Gary. You kind of had a point. I think me and Mist just need to get over arguing like kids," He explained. It was silent, as a soon went to bed.

 **A/N: Hey, FanFiction! This story had been on hold along with my Wattpad story, but it's back. Another chapter of Kanto League is coming, and two new chapters of my other story on Wattpad is up too. Check them out! My Wattpad is the same as my FanFiction name.**

 **Stay cool,**

 **bakercomics**


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